A King at Heart
by NucleoWolf
Summary: Gingivere Greeneyes wants nothing more than to forget his royal heritage and live a peaceful life with Sandingomm. But when Gorse Blueyes and his army of mink invade Mossflower with plans for a hostile conquest, the gentle wildcat must act like a king and join forces with the woodlanders to defend their home from the cruel feral cat.
1. Important News

**So it has just occurred to me that I do not have any ****_Redwall_**** fanfics currently posted, even though it was the ****_Redwall_**** series that got me into fanfiction in the first place. This cannot stand to be! As such, I must remedy that - by writing a ****_Redwall_**** fanfic, of course! Enjoy!**

**Everything related to the ****_Redwall_**** series is copyrighted by Brian Jacques, while all original characters belong to me!**

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Ringneck the common pheasant soared over the northern hills, glancing the ground for his destination. He spotted movement in the distance, and upon closer investigation realized that it was a troop of mink. Some of them were training, while many others were just lounging around, either eating or sleeping. A few stood on guard.

One of the mink on guard spotted the pheasant and called him in. Lucky for him, the mink worked for the beast that he was looking for, and they were expecting his arrival. Ringneck landed between the mink guard and the only tent at the campsite. "Good to see you Neovision!" he greeted. "Is Your Greatness in here?"

"That's Captain Neovision!" the mink barked. "And yes, he is. I will let him know of your arrival." Neovision left his post to complete the task, yet hesitated as he arrived at the entrance of the tent. The leader of the troop was not one to be messed with, and bothering him could result in severe punishment. The mink knew this all too well.

Ringneck huffed in impatience. "Are you just going to stand there, or are you actually going to let me see him?"

Ignoring the annoyed pheasant, Neovison took a deep breath and entered the tent. "My Lord?"

Gorse Blueyes looked up from the papers and maps that he was analyzing, the piercing gaze of the feral cat's blue eyes now locked onto those of the nervous mink's. "Of what reason do you have to disturb me at this time? It better be a good one."

The mink gulped. "My Lord, Ringneck is back with news for you."

"Well, what are you waiting for, let him in!"

Neovision let Ringneck let into the tent before quickly leaving. The pheasant bowed before Gorse. "It is great to see you, Your Greatness."

The feral cat was not in the mood for flattering. "Let's cut to the chase: what news do you bring to me?"

"First, payment." Ringneck extended his wing out, expecting to receive coins.

Gorse had other plans. "First, information. Then payment." The feral cat bared his claws as warning. "Unless you want to die. But then none of us benefit from that now, do we?"

The pheasant sighed. "You're right, Your Greatness. How foolish of me to question otherwise. So here is my news: it should be to your pleasure to hear that the Greeneyes no longer rule over Mossflower. Lord Verdauga is dead, and so is his heir Queen Tsarmina."

"And what about Prince Gingivere?"

"Haven't seen hide nor hair of him. I've heard rumor that he starved to death when his sister imprisoned him."

Gorse grinned in glee as he nodded in acknowledgement. "Purrfect. You did good, Ringneck. As promised, here is your payment." The feral cat grabbed a bag of coins and tossed it to Ringneck.

The pheasant swiped up the bag. "Thank you greatly, Your Greatness. I am forever in your gratitude."

"Good. If I am ever in need of your assistance again then I will send one of my soldiers out to find you. Now fly your tail-feathers out of here, cause I have important work to do."

"Yes Your Greatness." With the bag of coins in the grasp of his feet, Ringneck flew out of the tent and off into the mountains.

Gorse exited the tent, not wanting to waste any time in achieving his goal. "Pack your weapons and hitch the wagon - we are headed to Mossflower!" he commanded his mink troop. "It is time to take what is properly ours!"


	2. The Former Prince

**I thank everybody who has been reviewing this story so far! I will try to update often, but don't expect new chapters to come ****as**** fast as this one did. Enjoy!**

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Unbeknownst to Gorse and his mink troop, they were being spied on. The spy was tempted to get at them right then and there, but she knew that she would be outnumbered and quickly killed. So instead she headed south to warn the residents of Mossflower of the oncoming invasion and to enlist their help to stop the invaders. Being a solo traveler, she figured that she would arrive much quicker than the enemy.

After her long restless travel, the pine marten arrived in Mossflower. _Finally_, she breathed in relief. _Now Ay just need to find somebeast_. She continued travelling at a more casual pace, both because she was exhausted and because it would be easier to spot other creatures at a slower speed.

In the distance, the pine marten spotted a little farm with a fresh crops planted around it. _Somebeast must live here_, she concluded as she approached the farm. _Ay must warn them_. Without hesitation, she banged on the door as she yelled in her thick highlander accent. "Open up, it's urgent!"

The door opened, and the pine marten was greeted by a gentle wildcat. "Easy there, young lass - ouch." The wildcat rubbed his chest where his guest accidentally punched him in her frantic knocking.

The wildcat's yowl of pain brought the pine marten back to her senses. "Oh, Ay'm sorry, Ay did not mean to hit ye. Ay-" It was then that she recognized who she was speaking to. "Prince Gingivere Greeneyes? But Ay... Ay thought that ye were dead!"

"Yes, it is he," Gingivere acknowledged. "And obviously still alive despite whatever rumors you may have heard. But I'm no longer a prince."

"Wait, what?" The pine marten was confused and thought for a moment. "Oh, ye'r right... ye'r a king!" She bowed. "Sincere apologizes Yer Majesty, please forgive me!"

"I forgive you, but I'm not a king either. I'm just Gingivere."

The pine marten stood up, more confused than ever. "But Lord Verdauga is dead, correct?"

"Yes."

"An' yer sister is also dead, correct?"

"Yes."

"So ye were next in line to the throne, correct?"

"Yes."

"So ye'r the king!"

"No I'm not."

"An' why not?" The pine marten was starting to become ill-tempered. "Yer citizens need a good strong king to protect an' guide them! Ye can't just abandon them!"

"The residents of Mossflower don't want a king," Gingivere sighed. "And based on how my father and sister treated them, I honestly can't blame them."

"But-"

"Gingivere, what is going on?" Another wildcat, this one female, walked up to the former prince. "And who is this?"

The pine marten took a deep breath to calm down before answering the question. "Ay apologize for not introducing meself earlier, the name's Ailith. Ailith the Warrioress."

"Ah, a warrior. That explains a lot," Gingivere chuckled. "Always hot-headed beasts."

"Not always," the other wildcat argued. "Martin is not that temperamental."

"Have you ever seen him when he is provoked?"

"No I have not, admittedly."

"I have, and trust me when I say that you don't want to mess with him when he is angry."

"OK, I trust you." The female wildcat turned her attention back to Ailith. "Well, it is nice to meet you Ailith. My name is Sandingomm. What can we do for you today?"

"And what was this 'urgent' news that you had for us?" Gingivere added. "Certainly wasn't about the throne stuff because you did not know that I lived here."

"Oh yes," Ailith remembered. "Ay'm here to warn ye that the feral cat warlord Gorse Blueyes an' his army of mink are making their way to Mossflower right now as we speak, an' they're not coming for peace talks."

The look on Gingivere's face was one of horror. "You said 'Gorse Blueyes?' Oh no..."

Sandingomm placed a comforting paw on her mate's shoulder. "What's the matter, Gingi? Do you know this Gorse Blueyes?"

"He was my father's arch nemesis," Gingivere responded, wiping away tears from his eyes. "And he killed my mother."

"Oh Gingi, I'm so sorry to hear that," Sandingoom hugged her mate. "So what should we do?"

"We need to rush to Brockhall and warn everybeast as soon as possible."

"Now yer talking like a king!" Ailith praised. "Let's get a going!"

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**I am not the best at writing out accents and I apologize for that.**


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